The other night, I was driving at night with a friend who is a year younger than me. He got his license only a couple of months ago, but has quickly become a notoriously terrifying person to drive with. I didn’t think he could be too bad, so I decided to get into his passenger seat. Mind you, he also had a huge surfboard in the vehicle that forced me into an awkward position. But our destination was less than two minutes away so I said, screw it. Boy, did I regret that. He sped down the streets, reaching incredible speeds in residential areas. He swerved around the cars going the speed limit, causing me to knock into the surfboard. He made a two-minute ride into a thirty-second ride. I was horrified. I yelled at him for being reckless and got out of the car as soon as he parked. He told me, “Oh, stop, that was nothing.” I would not be driving with him again.
Similarly, a close friend of mine told me a story where she felt unsafe while driving with another teen. She said that during most of the drive, the driver was on their phone, texting and looking at social media. Not only were they distracted by their phone, but they were also going extremely fast on the highway.
Why do so many teens insist on abusing their privileges in a 4000-pound hunk of metal? Do they not realize they are driving a literal killing machine? At the end of the day, I believe it’s all about peer pressure. With social media being the primary driving factor, teens want to showcase themselves and appear cool in front of their peers. So they’ll drive too fast, multitask on their phones, and hop on the latest trend to show off.
Another big issue is a lack of experience. A lot of teens, especially nowadays, want to get in the car as quickly as possible. They see all their older friends or siblings in their vehicles and want to join in. So they rush through online training, get through their permit hours, and get a driver's license. But once they have their license, most teens think they can jump in head-first into what drivers with years of experience do. And a lot of the time, they drive around their friends, putting them at risk too. Without the necessary time spent warming up on the roads, teens often get into accidents.
Of course, phones are the biggest issue for teens on the road. Many teens are glued to their phones for most of their waking hours. And they think that when they’re driving, they can continue to use them. Like the story I mentioned previously, teens often have one hand on the wheel and the other scrolling or texting on their phone. Driving is not a task that you can focus partially on. It requires one hundred percent focus. So, being distracted by phones and other technology has made teen driving safety an even bigger issue.
How can teens overcome these problems and stay concentrated on the road? For phone distractions, the easiest solution is to turn off your phone or put it away. And by away, I mean away in the back seat or even trunk. Most cars today have CarPlay, which is a great way to stay off your phone while driving. CarPlay allows you to listen to music, make hands-free calls, and watch your GPS right in front of you. And you don’t even have to touch it. You can simply say ‘Hey Siri’ and you can use your voice to give commands. If you don’t have a vehicle with CarPlay, you should buy a phone holder to stick in an air vent or on the dashboard. But with having your phone there, teens have to avoid the temptation to use it. It’s all about self-control. Addressing the lack of experience, this is more the parents’ job to facilitate. A parent or guardian must ensure their teens are getting plenty of practice in the driver's seat so they are ready to conquer the roads. Parents should be making sure their teens know how to safely drive before they drive with other people, drive on major roads, and even drive solo. As for the issue of driving peer pressure, teens must have the confidence to overcome this. An insecure teen will always feel the need to impress and show themselves off. They don’t need peers backseat driving or asking them to do stupid things. They have the confidence to say ‘no’ and simply be a safe driver.
Teen driving safety is a big issue, but it can be overcome. Confidence is key to being the safest possible driver out there. Ignore peer pressure, put away the phones, and be confident in yourself to be the best driver on the roads.